Lunesta Vs. Ambien: Which is the Better Sleep Aid?

If you have been having trouble sleeping, chances are your doctor has recommended a prescription sleep aid to help you with your insomnia. Two of the most popular sleeping prescriptions are Lunesta and Ambien. But which drug is the right one for you? Here, we'll look at the pros and cons of each of these popular prescription medicines. 

Ambien, which is also known by the generic name zolpidem, has been used in the United States for more than a decade to treat mild-to-moderate cases of insomnia. Ambien works quickly, causing many people to fall asleep within 15-30 minutes of taking the pill. Ambien can be taken on an empty or a full stomach, although it may take longer to work if taken on a full stomach. The drug is meant to be taken for a short period of time (less than two weeks usually), and has not been approved for long-term use. Users should know that Ambien is meant to help you fall asleep, but it does not do much to prevent you from waking after you fall asleep, and thus may not be as effective for people who have problems with waking during the night. Because Ambien is available as generic zolpidem, the cost of getting a prescription filled is usually minimal for those with some form of health insurance. 

Lunesta, on the other hand, has only been approved for use in the United States for a few years. Like Ambien, Lunesta acts quickly to help you fall asleep, but Lunesta can also help keep you from waking in the middle of the night. Lunesta must be taken on an empty stomach--in my experience, the pill will not work if it is taken when there is food in the stomach. Lunesta is also approved for long-term use for up to six months if needed. Lunesta is a brand-name prescription only, so some insurance companies may not cover it unless you try a cheaper option first, and the co-pay will almost definitely be higher than with generic zolpidem. 

When it comes to side effects, I didn't experience significant problems with either drug. I had zero side effects with Ambien, and the only side effect I had with Lunesta was a slight bitter taste in my mouth the morning after taking the drug which quickly went away on its own. Some people say they feel groggy the day after taking one of these medications, but actually woke up feeling more refreshed and alert than I normally would. Both medications can be habit forming, so it is important to take them exactly as prescribed and for the smallest amount of time possible. Some studies indicate that Lunesta may be less addictive than Ambien, but so far these have been inconclusive and more research is needed. 

In terms of which medicine is better, for me I would have to say it is Ambien. I like not having to worry about what I eat at night, knowing it won't affect the effectiveness of my sleep aid. I also like that it is a relatively cheap medicine, and has a long track-record of safe use. Lunesta and Ambien both help me sleep about the same, so the rest of those factors "tip the scales" towards zolpidem. Only a doctor can help you decide which sleep medicine is the right one to try, but the information in this article can give you some idea of the kinds of questions you'll want to ask in order to find a medication that works for you.

Treating Insomnia Without Drugs: A Review of the SleepKey Electronic Self-Help Device

In the past year, numerous prescription sleeping pills have hit the market, and it seems like you can't turn anywhere without seeing an ad for one of these drugs. Sleep aids like Ambien, Lunesta, and Rozerem have helped millions of Americans get a good night's sleep. But these drugs are not without their side effects (remember the media frenzy a few months ago over people ''sleep driving" while on Ambien?), and some people prefer a more natural approach to dealing with sleep problems.

A new product called SleepKey recently hit the market and promises a drug-free, behavioral approach to dealing with insomnia. Sleep key, which is made by a company called PICS, Inc., is an unassuming electronic device about the size of a small remote control. I've been having some problems getting on a regular sleep schedule myself, so after reviewing the SleepKey website, I decided to purchase one of the gadgets for myself.

The product arrived quickly, and it was easy enough to set up. SleepKey has only four buttons, so there's really not much to screw up. After installing 3 AAA batteries, I set the current time, in addition to the time I wanted to wake up the next morning. For the first 7 days, the instruction manual informed me, SleepKey would take me through the first of three phases.

Here's how it works: when you go to bed, you let Sleep key know by pressing the "In/Out of Bed'' button. After a short while, SleepKey will emit a very soft beeping tone. If you hear the tone, you press the "Awake" button on top of the device, which is probably similar in shape, size and feel to the snooze button on your alarm clock. The idea is that if you're sleeping, the tones won't be loud enough to wake you up, so you won't press the button. This process, called "Active Sleep Sampling'', let's SleepKey assess your sleep efficiency, or the amount of time that you're in bed that you are actually sleeping.

I had no problem falling asleep with the tones, as they are very quiet and infrequent. If you find that the tones bother you, SleepKey also has a vibrate option, In the morning, SleepKey acts as your alarm clock and gets you out of bed by emitting a series of progressively louder and longer beeps. You have to press the ''Out of Bed" button to stop the alarm as opposed to the "Awake'' button that you'd intuitively press, which is actually a great feature. I find that sometimes I just hit the snooze button on my alarm clock without actually waking up, causing me to sleep in. SleepKey makes me think just enough to turn the alarm off that I really am awake and I do get up out of bed.

After the first seven days, SleepKey has learned enough about your personal sleep pattern to move on to the second phase. In Phase II, SleepKey tells you when you should go to bed, as opposed to you picking your own bedtime as you did during the first phase. Initially, the bedtime that SleepKey sets might be much later than you are used to--that's okay. The idea is that if you wake up at a normal time, you'll be tired enough to get a good night's sleep the next night.

Each night during Phase II, SleepKey will sound a prompt to let you know that it's time for bed. Once you are in bed, SleepKey will emit the same tones to check whether or not you're awake. Unlike Phase I, however, if you are in bed for too long without falling asleep, SleepKey will prompt you to get out of bed and try falling asleep again in a little while. This is based on studies that show insomnia is caused, to some degree, by people not associating their bed with sleep. By making you get out of bed until you are tired enough to sleep, SleepKey helps to reinforce the notion that your bed should be used for sleep, and not much else.

SleepKey also provides important data about your sleep, allowing you to retrieve your "Total Time Asleep" and "Sleep Efficiency" numbers for the past 7 nights, and gives you averages of these important numbers as well. That might not seem important at first, but by allowing you to see your "raw data," you can see your sleeping patterns improve over time. Once your sleep efficiency starts to rise and you are spending most of your time in bed asleep, SleepKey will adjust your bedtime to be a little bit earlier every few days, allowing you to achieve a normal bedtime and the optimum amount of sleep for your body.

Once you have achieved a normal sleep schedule that you are happy with, you can manually set SleepKey to go into Phase III, which is "maintenance mode." During Phase III, SleepKey will no longer adjust your bedtime earlier, but may make it later if you begin to have problems sleeping again. Some users are able to graduate to Phase III in a matter of weeks, while others find it takes them several months to get back on a normal sleep schedule.

I've been using SleepKey for a little over a month now and my sleeping habits have greatly improved. I am finding that my body clock is slowly resetting itself, and I am getting tired around my bedtime and, more importantly, I'm ready to get up when my alarm sounds. I still have a bit to go until I'm on a "normal" sleep schedule, but I have no doubt that SleepKey can help me reach that goal.

The only drawback to SleepKey is that it does depend on you to "obey" its prompts. If you don't go to bed when the unit prompts you to, or if you ignore the wake up prompts, SleepKey won't work. You have to be an active participant in the process. If you're looking for a quick fix for short-term sleep problems, prescription sleeping pills might be the right choice. But if you're looking for a behavioral approach to help you deal with sleeping difficulties over the long-term without drugs, SleepKey might be just the product you've been looking for.